International Nuclear Energy Financing Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1646 To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States Executive Director at the World Bank and other international financial institutions to support assistance for nuclear energy, and for other pur- poses. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 8, 2021 Mr. MCHENRY (for himself and Mr. HILL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Financial Services A BILL To require the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the United States Executive Director at the World Bank and other international financial institutions to support assistance for nuclear energy, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘International Nuclear 4 Energy Financing Act of 2021’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 The Congress finds as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1646 IH (1) Nuclear power provides clean energy with 1 greater reliability than wind or solar energy, and 2 with comparable life cycle greenhouse gas emissions. 3 (2) According to W. Gyude Moore, the former 4 Minister of Public Works for Liberia, ‘‘Obstacles to 5 the financing of nuclear power in emerging econo- 6 mies work to prevent countries like my own from in- 7 dustrializing our economies and building climate-re- 8 silient infrastructure. This is especially bad timing 9 as the next generation of nuclear technologies, in- 10 cluding small modular reactors and microreactors, 11 are especially suitable to emerging markets. Such re- 12 strictions are an example of climate injustice, not a 13 reaction against it.’’. 14 (3) The People’s Republic of China and the 15 Russian Federation have sought to export nuclear 16 reactors to Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, and 17 South Asia using technologies which, according to a 18 2017 study by Columbia University’s Center on 19 Global Energy Policy, are associated with higher 20 safety risk than American and Japanese reactor de- 21 signs. 22 (4) In a 2019 letter to congressional leaders, 38 23 national security experts emphasized the importance 24 of nuclear energy finance to counter Chinese and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1646 IH Russian ambitions, writing: ‘‘In the nuclear energy 1 sector, the initial supply of a reactor typically leads 2 to the supplier’s involvement throughout the hun- 3 dred-year life of the nuclear program, enabling long- 4 term influence on nuclear safety, security and non- 5 proliferation, as well as the ability to advance energy 6 security and broader foreign policy interests.’’. 7 (5) As Rafael Mariano Grossi, Director General 8 of the International Atomic Energy Agency, wrote in 9 Climate Change and Nuclear Power 2020, ‘‘Nuclear 10 power, currently being generated in 30 countries, is 11 already reducing carbon dioxide emissions by about 12 two gigatons per year. That is the equivalent of tak- 13 ing more than 400 million cars off the road—every 14 year.’’. He continued, ‘‘Nuclear power now provides 15 about 10 percent of the world’s electricity, but it 16 contributes almost 30 percent of all low carbon elec- 17 tricity. Nuclear power will be essential for achieving 18 the low carbon future which world leaders have 19 agreed to strive for.’’. 20 SEC. 3. INTERNATIONAL FINANCIAL INSTITUTION SUP- 21 PORT FOR NUCLEAR ENERGY. 22 The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the 23 United States Executive Director at the International 24 Bank for Reconstruction and Development and, as the 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1646 IH Secretary deems appropriate, the United States Executive 1 Director at any other international financial institution 2 (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of the International Fi- 3 nancial Institutions Act), to use the voice, vote, and influ- 4 ence of the United States at the institution to support fi- 5 nancial assistance for the generation and distribution of 6 nuclear energy, consistent with the national security inter- 7 ests of the United States. 8 SEC. 4. WAIVER AUTHORITY. 9 The Secretary of the Treasury may waive the require- 10 ment of section 3 on a case-by-base basis upon notifying 11 the Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep- 12 resentatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of 13 the Senate that the waiver is in the national interest of 14 the United States, with a detailed explanation of the rea- 15 sons therefor. 16 SEC. 5. PROGRESS REPORT. 17 The Chairman of the National Advisory Council on 18 International Monetary and Financial Policies shall in- 19 clude in the annual report required by section 1701 of the 20 International Financial Institutions Act a discussion of 21 any progress made in promoting international financial in- 22 stitution (as defined in section 1701(c)(2) of such Act) 23 assistance for nuclear energy. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1646 IH SEC. 6. SUNSET. 1 This Act shall have no force or effect after the date 2 that is 10 years after the date of the enactment of this 3 Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:36 May 01, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1646.IH H1646 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS